Arkansas literature

Arkansas literature has an emerging consciousness, though it still lags behind other Southern states such as Mississippi and Georgia in the promotion of its literary culture. University of Arkansas Press is probably the state's largest publisher of books, though there do exist some notable small presses in the state: August House, Rose Publishing Group, and Chenault and Gray. The University of Arkansas's M.F.A. program has graduated a number of notable writers, including Lewis Nordan, John Dufresne, Steve Yarbrough, and more. In 2004, the state held the first annual Arkansas Literary Festival in Little Rock, attracting famous writers from around the nation. The Porter Prize is the state's most prestigious literary award.

See also: Southern literature

List of Arkansas residents and natives who have achieved a national stature for their writing

*Maya Angelou, whose "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" tells the story of her young life in Stamps, Arkansas.
*Dee Brown, author of "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee".
*Jack Butler, nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his novel "Living in Little Rock with Miss Little Rock".
*John Gould Fletcher, 1938 winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.
*Ellen Gilchrist, winner of the 1984 National Book Award for her collection of short stories "Victory over Japan", and author of more than twenty works of fiction.
*John Grisham, national and international best-selling author, from Black Oak, Arkansas (born in Jonesboro). Many of his books have been turned into movies, including "A Painted House", which is set in Black Oak.
*Donald Harrington, winner of the Robert Penn Warren Award for his many novels which take place in the fictional town of Stay More, Arkansas.
*Mars Hill, author of the novel "The Moaner's Bench", nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
*Jo McDougall, another Pulitzer nominee whose latest collection of poetry, "Dirt", has been highly praised by critics.
*Charles Portis, author of "True Grit", which was made into a movie starring John Wayne.

Literary journals in Arkansas

*Arkansas Literary Forum, an online publication of Henderson State University, which has published such notable Arkansas Writers as Jack Butler and Donald Harrington.
*, a tri-annual journal published by Arkansas State University; it is the successor to the Kansas Quarterly.
*The Oxford American, a quarterly journal of Southern culture once supported by John Grisham and now published by the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.